Eildon via Torbreck River Sunday 11^th February, 2007

Tony Raditsis (leader)	Yamaha TRX850	Breht Emmerson	Suzuki GSXR600
Harry Miller	Yamaha FZR600	Ron Johnston (0.5 rear)	Bandit 2100
Cameron Stevens	Suzuki GSXR1000	Dave Ward (0.5 rear)	Suzuki GSXR600
Adam Ruchotzke (2^nd ride)	Honda VTR1000	& Bronwyn Manifold	7 bikes, 8 people

Sometimes having too much choice is a pain in the neck. Over the years, with the accumulation of riding gear, it’s a matter of deciding which pair of gloves to wear, how many layers to put on, do I leave the liner in, should I switch to the clear visor if it’s not going to be sunny?

So, there I was at the servo in Yarra Glen, trying to decide whether I should use the premium unleaded which had ethanol or use the standard which only had a rating of 91 RON but no ethanol. Too many choices! Another rider on a FZR 600 agreed with my indecision as he enquired whether I was in the club.

With such a glorious morning, it was a bit surprising that only six other riders turned out. The biggest surprise was seeing Breht Emmerson roll up on a brand new GSXR 600 with a new set of riding gear. It looked like he was lining up on the grid of a Moto GP. Another surprise was the appearance of Harry Miller, who has been in the Club for 20 years, but not riding for quite a while. He was very surprised that Ben wasn’t there.

We waited a while as none of the usual suspects had arrived but eventually the small tight group took off. We made our way up the Old Healesville Road then the Chum Creek Road. As I was leading on the least powerful bike, I didn’t hang about at the corners riding as hard as possible up the almost deserted Chum Creek Road. Cameron eventually caught me, but not before the next turn down Myers Creek Road. I much prefer Chum Creek to Myers Creek Road, especially in winter when there a quite a few green patches. But at this time of the year, both were in great condition and you could ride with confidence.

At Healesville, Eric Makin and the gang were ready to roll out of the servo opposite. It seems every time I come through, Eric and John are there and I give them a honk and a wave.

The traffic through the Black Spur was surprisingly light through the middle section and it was a motorcycle heaven until the tighter section about three quarters of the way through. My usual overtaking tactic through here is to pass at as low a speed as possible but this almost caught me out when I took a punt approaching a blind corner. A small bus suddenly appeared at the worst possible moment. I kept the momentum going as I slipped between it and the car I was overtaking, accompanied by the sound of blasting horns.

I was pleasantly surprised that no-one had passed me as I turned towards Maryville for our first stop. I made sure everyone who needed fuel topped up, especially Adam on the VTR. During our break, Breht gave us a run down on his new purchase. He had a talk with Dave Ward and decided it all made perfect sense and called the same dealer and bought the bike over the phone for a good price. It seems no matter what you pay for a new bike, the dealer never makes any money.

Cameron filled us in on his latest attempts to sort out the ignition problems with his 1000. Apparently the bike’s been back three times and has had the key barrels and keys changed (which included the seat unit as this is one piece) and half the wiring loom has been replaced. After listening to this, Adam on the VTR 1000 seems very pleased with his Honda.

Dave Ward, with Bronwyn pillion, left us here as he had to work this arvo. Ron took up rear rider duties. I got everyone moving as the day was heating up. I took off for Buxton on the Marysville road. This section is always an enjoyable cruise with beautiful scenery. Back on the Maroondah Highway, I keep an eagle eye out for the dark green XR8 that nabbed Geoff Jones the last time I lead up this way. From Taggerty to Thornton, Cameron rockets past only to corner mark at the next turn towards Eildon. That’ll slow him down for a while!

I’m looking forward to the Eildon-Jamieson Road that runs past Mt Torbreck. After a few kays I run into a group of 4WDs. It takes a little longer than usual to pass them as there is oncoming traffic and this road is not the place for fancy overtaking moves. Once past, however, there is nothing until Big River. Unfortunately, about a third of the way in, someone has decided to resurface the road and I find out almost too late. After straight-lining a long series of esses and carrying a fair bit of speed, I hit the braking area just where the fine gravel starts on the newly resurfaced section. Fortunately, there is a clean section where the car wheels have swept the gravel away. At least the 4WDs are good for something! This continues for quite a distance and eventually Cameron catches up and I wave him past with the boot.

I was quite relieved when everyone arrived at Big River safe and sound. Adam on the VTR had mentioned that over in WA, many corners have gravel, so they get used to going really fast on the straight bits and slowly wobbling around corners. Couldn’t think of anything worse! We wonder why the usual crowd aren’t with us. Harry reminds us that he has probably been in the club longer than anyone else on the ride but we refuse to believe him until he shows us his membership card.

Back down the road to Eildon and again, no problems as everyone rolls into the servo to fuel up. There’s a bloke in a Land Rover who decides to top up his windscreen washer as well as check oil etc while half a dozen bikes are waiting. Probably drives with as much disregard for other road users.

After a pleasant lunch in the shade the group decide to detour via the Mt Pinninger Lookout. I’m not sure about the way so Cameron temporarily takes the lead. He almost comes unstuck as there is gravel on some of the corners and after passing a car with a late overtaking manoeuvre, he has to brake heavily amongst the slippery stuff. The view is as good as usual although the heat and wind mean we don’t hang around for long. We stop at the toilets on the dam wall but Ron must have found hanging on a little uncomfortable as he loses balance in the strong wind and the bike topples over. Fortunately this is the only incident for the day.

We head up the Skyline Road and at the roundabout near the top, I take the group down the Cotter Bay road (one of my favourites). Ron had mentioned he had read about old sections of bridge being exposed by the receding waters so I decided to head around the shore to the old homestead I remembered seeing many years before. We reached the end then headed cross country along the edge of the lake. It must have been a sight, a group of sports bikes bouncing along the dry lake bed up and down hills. One was pretty steep and I wondered if we could get back up on the way out. Eventually we found the remains of the old homestead and stopped for a few pics. With the wind blowing hard and dark storm clouds gathering, we decided to get going in case we got caught in a downpour on the clay of the lake bed. However, the rain never eventuated and we continued to enjoy the great weather. I was thinking we could keep going across the lake to the other side and meet up with the road opposite but no-one else was feeling that adventurous.

As we were getting ready to go, Harry pointed to the dangling speedo cable now detached from my front wheel. Seems the rough road had undone it and the inner cable parted company somewhere back up the track. It’s a good thing we don’t keep to the speed limit as I now didn’t have any speedo or odometer.

I enjoyed the run back up the mountain and with good visibility, I get stuck in and manage to make sure no-one is on my tail. After this it’s the usual run into Alexander and then the Molesworth Road. Here the boys really let loose as first Breht screams past followed by Adam on the booming big twin. Breht’s brake lights come on which I thought was a little unusual as the road is pretty wide open. I slow down and when I get to the spot, there is farmer Brown with his 4WD bike on the side of the road, cows grazing. His dog which tries to take a piece out of my front tyre as I slowly cruise past!

Quick stop at Yea as Breht and Cameron load up on cream cakes and buns. Then the final run into Kinglake. I couldn’t keep ahead of Cameron over Junction Hill as he went past in a shower of road debris. This section over the top seems to finish just as you get started.

A cruise past Flowerdale into Kinglake is a nice way to end a very enjoyable Sunday ride.

Tony Raditisis